Denmark stays at the top for female entrepreneurship

The latest figures from the Danish Business Authority reveal that the distribution between men and women engaging in entrepreneurship has remained constant since 2001, with 1 out of every 3 entrepreneurs being female.

An entrepreneur is statistically defined as a person who creates new business in non-agricultural industries, meaning re-launches, acquisitions and the like are not counted.

In Denmark, there was a continuous focus in 2015 on gender and the division between entrepreneurship and tech jobs. Some gender-based initiatives have aroused controversy. For example, several networks focusing on (and in some cases exclusively for) women in tech and entrepreneurship, sometimes without much purpose or agenda.

Additionally, despite Denmark being a strong promoter of gender equality, women have been presented awards in entrepreneurship simply for being female. Among others, the founder of Endomondo, Mette Lykke, was proclaimed Female Leader of the Year by Denmarks IT industry association, IT-Branchen. “Ivækstprisen”, a prestigious Danish award for innovation, awarded Herle Jarlsgaard of Finder Keepers as the Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

And at Slush, one of the largest startup events in Europe, which occurred in November in Helsinki, Clue’s Ida Tin won the Female Web Entrepreneur of the Year.

In her acceptance speech, Ida Tin said that the focus should not be on a debate between genders, but that there is rather a need for women to stand up and show how easy it is to get started in the male-dominated tech industry.

She spoke about the importance of fitting in with company culture, rather than focusing on gender, that makes for a strong team.

“It does not matter if you are a startup, an investor, or a business partner – there is a need for diversity. It makes both men and women work better when they work with someone different from themselves,” she said.

Business Authority has announced figures based on business registration numbers, which reveal that the distribution of men and women has remained constant since 2001.